Israel strains Hezbollah's finances with devastating airstrikes

Israeli airstrikes targeted nearly a dozen branches of a Hezbollah-run financial institution that the IDF says helps finance terrorist operations.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan, or “benevolent credit,” branches were located throughout southern Lebanon and in the capital, Beirut. While some individuals keep their savings with the institution, Hezbollah uses hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Israel.

Israel issued evacuation warnings ahead of the airstrikes and there were no reports of casualties.

“Overnight, the IAF carried out a series of targeted, intelligence-led attacks against dozens of facilities and locations used by the terrorist organization Hezbollah to finance its terrorist activities against the State of Israel. The attacks were carried out in the Beirut area of ​​southern Lebanon and deep within Lebanese territory,” the IDF said in a statement.

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Workers clean a street beneath a giant portrait of late Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh as smoke rises from a destroyed building hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday, October 20. 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

“These funds that Hezbollah used for terrorist activities were held by the Al-Qard al-Hassan Association, which directly finances Hezbollah's terrorist activities, including the purchase of weapons and payments to operatives in Hezbollah's military wing. The terrorist organization Hezbollah stores billions of dollars in the association's branches, including funds that were held directly under the name of the terrorist organization,” the statement continued.

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The institute, which has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, sought to reassure customers ahead of the strikes, saying it had evacuated all branches and relocated gold and other deposits to safe areas.

Earlier this month, Israel launched an invasion of Lebanon. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's announcement came a day after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called civilian casualties in Lebanon in the war between Israel and Hezbollah “far too high” and called on Israel to scale back some attacks, particularly in and around Beirut.

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Iran supports Lebanon-based Hezbollah, and the United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents showing that Israel was positioning military assets for a military strike in response to Iran's Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack, according to reports three US officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left), Shin Bet leader Ronen Bar (center) and Israel Defense Forces Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (right) speak near the Gaza border on Thursday following the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. (IDF)

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The Israeli government said a drone was targeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house on Saturday without any casualties as the fighting with Hezbollah and Hamas terrorists showed no sign of respite.

The Associated Press and Trey Yingst contributed to this report.